A Life Worth Saving
by Rainfall
Summary: New Summary: A Centre manufactured killer is put back to work. Can she be saved before an event takes place that would have brutal effects on all involved? *Chapter Five added*
1. Lost and Found

**2.11.01** – LOL! Those of you who came across this fic yesterday… how embarrassing! It's like getting caught with your pants down. ::sigh:: Yeah, I just pretend I know what I'm doing. Hopefully this is better.

[Disclaimer] All Pretender characters belong to their respective creators, obviously. All scenes pictured in this fanfiction that are parallel to past episodes or the movie_, The Pretender 2001_, don't belong to me, and I did not mean any infringement by using them, but for the purposes of this story they were needed to connect two time lines. This is merely for enjoyment, so if anyone decides to sue me, all you'll get is 55 cents, some lint, and an apology, for I am a sixteen year old junior in high school who doesn't have a job or driver's license – though both issues are out of my control at the present time. Not that you really _needed _that personal information. Just enjoy the damn story. 

  
[Author's Note] Well, this is my first Pretender fic. I'm a huge fan of the show and decided it was time. **Beware:** This story contains spoilers from The Pretender 2001. You've been warned! 

****

A Life Worth Saving  
By Rainfall

__

Chapter One: Lost and Found

New York City was beautiful at night. Maybe not if you were in the middle of it all, but if you stepped back and could see the skyline… it almost looked peaceful. Especially from Central Park. The only sounds to be heard were the crickets and rustling of the bushes.

Ty inhaled the cool night air and continued down the path. She wouldn't be in New York for much longer, and each night she had been there, the Park had just attracted her. For the past three days she had made it a habit to take a walk there each night, and then bring home some dinner for her and Kyle. 

Glancing absentmindedly at her watch, her eyes went wide and she swore under her breath. She was late. Again. Taking a deep breath, Ty began to jog the rest of the way.

_____

"Jarod, I want you to meet somebody. This is Kyle." Sydney's voice filtered throughout the dark room. 

"Hi Kyle, I'm Jarod." The voice of Jarod when he had been young trailed after Sydney's.

The same DSA had been playing over and over for an hour, and now Jarod was sprawled across the couch, asleep. He was frowning, and images of his brother plagued his dreams.

"Kyle…" he mumbled. "Kyle _look out_!" He jerked awake shouting, then looked around. Realizing it had been a dream, he slowly lay back, to lie awake for the rest of the night.

_____

Fumbling with the door, Ty finally shoved it open. One arm held a bag full of fried chicken, while the other was juggling two drinks. Her key was held firmly between her pinky and thumb. Using her shoulder to shut the door, she frowned.

"Kyle, a little... help." Turning the face the room, she found it a complete mess. Chairs were overturned and broken, the couch was on its side, and the walls were pierced with bullet holes. 

The food and drinks fell to the floor as her arms dropped to her sides with shock. She didn't have to look for Kyle to know he wasn't there. Only one kind of people would do something like this.

"Sweepers." The word was but a whisper, yet held volumes of anger that were aching to be displayed. 

Ty walked slowly towards the center of the room, catching every little detail. The TV was on mute, and Ty guessed that he must have heard something before the attack. On the carpet beside the overturned couch were three drops of blood.

"Perfect," she muttered. "Not only do they have him, but he's wounded. That's great."

Sighing, she slumped down onto the floor and leaned against a wall. Drawing her knees up, she rested her arms on them and looked about the room with a gloomy expression mirroring her thoughts. Letting her head fall back with a light thud, she shut her eyes and shook her head.

A smug smile slowly formed on her lips. "And she travels back to the mists, to see what cannot be seen, and hear what cannot be heard." The words were spoken wistfully and she sighed.

Pulling herself to her feet, Ty slowly made her way back across the room, glancing once more at the blood on the carpet as she went. Clenching her jaw, she opened the door and left the room to find the one person who could help her get Kyle out again. She knew it would take nothing short of a genius.

_____

Staring out the window, Jarod sighed. His dream the night before had spooked him, though he couldn't say why. After all, it was only a dream, right? He ran a hand through his rumpled hair and shook his head.

"Where are you, little brother?" he whispered, his eyes searching the street below him, though he knew the answer wouldn't be found there.

Turning his back to the window, his watchful eyes scanned the room. There wasn't much there; a bed against one wall, with a couch, coffee table, and TV set across from it, and a small refrigerator against the far wall, beside a door that lead to the bathroom summed up the layout of the room. Despite the amount of furniture, the room itself was quite large, and he liked it that way.

Walking over to the couch, he sat down and took the picture of his mother out of a pocket. He stared at it for a moment and frowned. "Why is this all I have?"

_____

Sydney cocked his head to the side slightly as he read the computer screen. It was peaceful in his office, with the only sound to be heard being the steady hum of his laptop. 

The sudden ring from his cell phone jostled him and he quickly answered the call, his calmness shattered.

"This is Sydney."

"Why is this so difficult?" Jarod's voice could be heard on the other end.

"What is, Jarod?" Sydney asked, frowning as he leaned back in his chair.

"All I want to do is find my family, and do you know what my progress is?" There was a pause. "All I have is a picture of my mother and a brief meeting with my brother. You'd think that with all my capabilities I'd be able to find four people." Bitterness radiated from his voice.

"Jarod, they _are_ out there, and you will find them. The best things don't come easy." Sydney's frown deepened. It wasn't like Jarod to be hopeless.

  
He could hear Jarod sigh into the phone. "All I want to do is find my family. Why is that so hard?"

Sydney heard the click and knew he had hung up. He shook his head and set the phone down. He couldn't help but feel sorry for him; so many people took family members for granted, while Jarod didn't even know where his were. And it was partially his fault. Sighing, he went back to his computer, only to be interrupted once more.

The door flew open and in walked an excited Broots and a satisfied Miss Parker.

"We're finally getting somewhere, Syd," Miss Parker began, her eyes glowing. "Wonder Boy is as good as ours."

He looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Broots could hold out no longer and he blurted out, "We've got Kyle!"

Sydney sat up. "When did this happen?"

"_We_ didn't catch him, unfortunately. Thumbless did. But that's not the point." She smiled. "For once we can just sit back and wait. Jarod will come home on his own."

_____

Typing furiously into her laptop, a triumphant smile began to play in the corners of her mouth. "Almost there," Ty whispered.

She sat alone at a bus stop trying to get across town. Having long since left New York, she was in the industrial city of Baltimore, Maryland.

Hearing the strain of squeaky breaks, she knew the bus had arrived, though she didn't look up. She only typed faster. There was a beep, indicating that she finally had a location.

Carefully closing the laptop, Ty stood up and ascended the stairs onto the bus_. To Annapolis we go,_ she thought gleefully.

_____

The room was dark and bare except for a small cot at the far end. There were no blankets or sheets, only a lumpy mattress and a pillow. A low moan came from the cot, and the still body sprawled on it began to stir. Sitting up, he groaned and brought a hand to his forehead.

"Goddamn it," he mumbled, shutting his eyes against the pain. It wasn't so much that that made him wince, it was the knowledge that it triggered. He was at the one place that was worse than hell.

Glancing around, he massaged his cramped neck and let out a long breath to keep himself calm. _Those bastards,_ he thought angrily. _They really think they can bring me back and say that's the end of it. They've got another thing coming. They're gonna pay._

With murderous thoughts floating through his groggy mind, he slowly lay back to rest his aching body. He was going to need all the strength he could muster.


	2. Plans in the Making

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Chapter Two: Plans in the Making

  
At three o' clock in the morning, most sensible people would be fast asleep, but Jarod was sitting on the couch, wide awake. The TV wasn't on, and his laptop and DSA player were both on the coffee table, closed. He was simply sitting there staring at the wall with a frown crossing his features. He was deep in thought, and had been that way long before the sun went down. The only movement he made was when he grabbed a piece of candy from a pez dispenser that was gripped tightly in his hand.

"Kyle, Kyle, Kyle," he whispered. "Where are you?"

A sudden knock on the door caused him to jump out of his seat, startled. He stared at the door for a moment, wondering who would come to see him. Glancing down at his watch, his body tensed. _At three in the morning? You've got to be kidding,_ he thought uneasily. 

The knock came again, though no more forceful than the first time. Grabbing his gun from the couch, he held it ready as he quietly made his way towards the door. Pausing momentarily, he clenched the gun in his right hand while opening the door with the left.

A girl in her mid twenties stood there, glancing cautiously over her shoulder. Her hair was a dark red color, obviously dyed, and her curious eyes were brownish green. She looked fit and carried only a laptop under one arm.

Smiling at him slightly, she said, "Ah, the famous Jarod. I hope you're not tied up with anything at the moment. I need your help."

_____

"Taken?" Jarod was surprised and angered at the same time. He put his head in his hands and groaned.

"They want him back for his abilities, obviously, but I bet you anything they're trying to use him as bait to bring you back." Ty looked at him from across the room as she spoke. She had declined to sit, and was leaning against a wall instead. She regarded him with watchful eyes and had to keep a smile from her face. He was cuter now than when she had last seen him. _But that was a long time ago,_ she thought_. I know he doesn't know me._ Through his eyes she could see the child that had been suppressed for so long. It danced in the corners of his mouth and twinkled in his big pretty eyes.

"How did you find me?" Jarod asked, looking up at her with a skeptical expression on his face.

She shrugged. "If I know how to do one thing, it's computers. It took me three hours."

"Three hours?" he spoke with amusement ringing in his voice. "People who have searched for me for four _years_ haven't been able to find me yet. They'll be very jealous."

Ty grinned, though it quickly faded. "You know, I don't know why I never found you before. Kyle's been looking for you for a long time. It's too bad it had to come to this."

He frowned and nodded. "The irony is horrible." Looking at her thoughtfully, he asked. "How do you know Kyle?"

She sighed and leaned her head back against the wall before she answered. "We just happened to be at the same place at the same time." She searched the ceiling as if the memory were up there, showing her what to say. "We were in this crowded area, running toward each other from opposite directions. We were both running for our lives. I saw him running wildly, though he didn't seem to see anything. His eyes had this glazed-over look to them. I saw the people who were chasing him, and one had a gun out, ready to take a shot. I knocked Kyle over as the guy took it, and it ended up wounding a man behind us. It spooked the whole crowd and we both got away during all the confusion." She paused and looked at Jarod. "We've been friends ever since."

"Who was chasing you?" he asked curiously.

Averting her eyes, she shrugged slightly. "That, uh, is a whole story in itself."

Jarod nodded, clearly seeing her discomfort. "Well, how should we go about this?" he asked, changing the subject.

Ty came over and sat down beside him. "You got out once, didn't you? You can figure out how to get back in."

Jarod chuckled. "Yeah, like it's that easy."

_____

"I know you're awake," came a taunting voice. "Get up."

Kyle groaned. He hated that voice. If he were to kill anyone in that damned place, it'd be the man who owned that voice. "I'm awake _now_," he muttered, opening his eyes.

"Good." Mr. Lyle grinned down on him and cocked his head to the side. "You know, this being your first day back in, oh, a while, I've got some people who'd like to… say hi."

The mocking tone in his voice made Kyle's blood boil, and he had the urge to snap his neck right then and there. "Go to hell, Lyle," he growled, glaring at him.

Lyle's grin broadened. "Already been there, I'm afraid." Walking out of the room, he paused in the doorway and spoke to someone Kyle couldn't see. "He needs to be able to walk, guys. Ok?"

As he left, four men filed into the room with two inch black clubs in hand. Kyle's eyes narrowed and he pulled himself up. _That bastard,_ he thought. _Can't even do it himself._

_____

Nervously pushing the door open, Broots stumbled into Miss Parker's office. She looked up from her computer and frowned. 

"Well? Has he taken the bait?" she demanded.

"Well, uh, someone's accessed the mainframe, if that's what you mean," he replied.

"That's Einstein all right. Good, that means he'll be coming around soon enough." She smiled slightly, knowing the chase was almost over. "Find out what kind of security Lyle is using. This has to go perfect."

_____

"So, what have you got?" Jarod asked, walking over to Ty.

She had hooked her computer up to a printer and was printing out blueprints. "Definitely bait," she said. "Getting his location was a piece of cake. I'm printing out floor plans right now."

Glancing at the computer screen, he asked, "Where is he?"

"SL-6." Pausing, she considered something for a moment. "You know, the only advantage we have in this entire situation is that they think they'll only be dealing with you."

Jarod smiled mischievously. "Then we'll just have to play off that, now won't we?" Getting up, he began to walk around the room collecting his things. "When that print job is done, we're leaving."


	3. One Out, One In

__

Chapter Three: One out, One In

The night was chilly and clear, and the half moon shone brightly in the sky. Staring up at the looming building that sprawled across the hill, Ty and Jarod both looked uneasy.

Ty sighed. "I have a feeling our plan's gonna go bad somewhere along the way."

Jarod glanced at her and chuckled nervously. "Ty, you look as bad as I feel. Don't worry, this should go perfectly."

She shook her head as they began to walk once more. "'Should' being the keyword there."

_____

"Well," Mr. Lyle couldn't keep the smile from his face. "I guess this is goodbye until tomorrow."

Kyle glared. "What are you smiling about?"

He hadn't left the room all day, except to use the bathroom. His face was covered with bruises and cuts, his ribs screamed in pain with every breath he took, and the gunshot wound he received in his leg back in New York wasn't helping at all. He felt like he was just going from one nightmare to another.

"You know, it's true, we have missed you and all, but the main reason for your capture doesn't really have much to do with you at all." Lyle sighed in satisfaction. "Soon you'll be having a little family reunion."

Kyle gritted his teeth and turned away from him so he couldn't see his face. "I'm going to make it my personal goal to kill you, Lyle." His voice was dangerously calm. "I'll string you from one end of the Centre to the other."

  
Mr. Lyle's smile faded. "Seems you've still got that same _spirit_ us wonderful people here at the Centre gave you." He paused and began to leave the room. "But I think you're setting your sights a _little_ too high." He smirked and shut the door behind him.

Kyle stared worriedly into the darkness. _Oh shit,_ he thought. _Jarod's gonna try to save me, and he'll be walking right into a goddamn trap._ He sighed and gingerly touched his ribs. _And I'm not even in any shape to escape even if he _did_ make it to me. That's just wonderful._

_____

At the end of a dimly lit hallway, a door slowly opened, and Ty cautiously poked her head out. Looking up at the ceiling, she saw the security camera facing the other direction. Grinning triumphantly, she hurriedly entered the hallway and quietly shut the door behind her. Flattening herself against the wall under the camera, she took a deep breath.

"Ok," she whispered. "We can do this."

Staring at her watch, she waited until it read exactly 12:05am, then looked down the hallway to see Jarod emerge from a door. They began to walk towards one another until they met at an intersection of hallways.

"The regular recording will be back in five minutes," she hissed.

He only nodded solemnly and turned down a new hallway. Ty leaned against a wall out of sight, and waited.

_____

As Jarod crept down the hallway, he knew Ty had been right. He had the same feeling. Something was going to go wrong. Sweepers would be lurking on the floor, just waiting for him to open Kyle's door. He knew it. He just hoped that Ty would be capable enough to guard his back. Her background was sketchy, and she didn't seem too keen on enlightening him on the subject.

Glancing at all the doors as he passed them, he finally stopped at one. Pulling a key from his pocket, he glanced back down the hallway. He was smack in the middle of it. Shaking his head, he took a deep breath and unlocked the door.

_____

Ty's heart raced as she looked around the corner and watched Jarod push the door open. Almost immediately five other doors flew open and ten sweepers jumped out, guns aimed.

Ty pulled out a 9mm and got down on one knee in a single fluid motion. Aiming carefully, she whistled loudly to draw their attention. Before they had any time to react, she began to pick them off one by one, while Jarod disarmed the ones nearest him.

Kyle slowly emerged from the room, and Jarod threw him a gun while he fought with the sweepers. Ty frowned as she watched him clumsily catch it and knew he wasn't himself. Bracing himself against the doorframe, he began shooting just as the alarm sounded.

When the last one fell to the ground, Jarod put Kyle's arm around his shoulder and hurriedly dragged him back down the hallway towards Ty. At certain intervals, the hallways began to get closed off. 

The three of them ran down the hallway in the direction Jarod had originally come from, just barely making it past the barriers. As they neared the last one, however, there wasn't as much space; they wouldn't make it. A determined look crossed Ty's features, and she upped her speed. Using the momentum she generated, she pushed Jarod and Kyle with all the force she could muster, shoving them through the slim opening. As they hit the ground hard, the barrier sealed the passageway, separating Ty from the others.

"No!" she could hear Kyle shout.

Looking in both directions, she knew she was stuck. "Go on!" she yelled through the barrier. "You two need to get out – that's all that matters! Don't worry about me!"

She could hear something bang against the metal, and Kyle continued to shout. "No! Ty, you _can't_!"

"Jarod, get him out of here. That was the objective, wasn't it?" she demanded. She knew he would heed her.

_____

Kyle rubbed his fist and stared wildly at the barrier that kept his friend out of reach. His face had gone deathly pale.

"Ty that's not fair! They'll – Jarod stop it! What are you doing?" His voice was growing hoarse, and he could hardly struggle as Jarod began to pull him down the hallway, away from Ty.

"We'll come back for you, Ty," Jarod called. He felt bad for leaving her there, but knew there was nothing he could do.

"What for? You'll just get yourselves caught!" came the faint response.

Jarod didn't reply, and continued to drag his struggling brother down the hall.

"Jarod, you don't understand! We can't leave her here!" Kyle shouted shrilly.

Jarod tried hard to ignore him as he pushed him into a room and out of sight. Ty would have to hang tough for a day or so until he could figure things out. That is, if he could keep his brother under control until then.


	4. The Mercenary Project

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Chapter Four: The Mercenary Project

Sliding down the wall to the floor, Ty leaned her head back in defeat. She had tried all the doors, but they were all dead ends. Two security cameras were in pieces on the floor, along with the rest of Ty's bullets and shells. She sat there and stared numbly at the wall across from her and waited. They would arrive soon enough.

_____

Walking down the hallway on SL-6, Mr. Lyle was at the head of a four-man group, all armed and ready to protect him. He had received word that someone had gotten caught between the barriers, though it had been impossible to see who it was because the cameras had suddenly gone black.

Each barrier opened as he neared it, and as the fourth one slid back, it revealed a female sitting against a wall amidst the debris of the security cameras. She looked up at him when he came into view, and her scowl deepened.

Lyle faltered in his step and looked at her in surprise. Trying unsuccessfully to suppress his laughter, he said, "You?"

_____

"Kyle, what is _wrong_ with you?" Jarod demanded. His patience had long since worn thin, and he was becoming angry.

The two had found refuge in Blue Cove, and were in the basement of an unused warehouse. There were dusty tables and old couches that looked like they belonged at the bottom of a junkyard scattered about the vast room. It was the place he and Ty and staked out as a home base before they had ventured into the Centre.

Kyle had propped himself up against a couch and was glaring at his brother. Jarod had already tended to his wounds and had told him to get some rest, but he had vehemently refused.

"Don't you get it? We were all much better off when _I _was in there," Kyle told him angrily. "Do you know what they'll do to her?"

Jarod threw up his arms and whirled on him. "What are you _talking_ about?" he asked in exasperation. "She doesn't have anything to do with them. They'll just lock her up somewhere and wait for us to rescue her."

Kyle laughed hollowly. "I wish. Those bastards have been looking for her a _lot _longer than they've been looking for you. Of course, no one's as important as you are, but they'll like her back none the less." The bitterness in his voice was mirrored in his features.

Jarod froze. "What? She – Why didn't she say anything?" he demanded, suddenly understanding his brother's behavior.

Kyle shrugged. "She hates talking about it." Looking at him desperately, he continued. "We have to get her out of there. You have no idea what they'll do to her if we don't."

Jarod met his gaze speechlessly, a worried expression commanding his features. Suddenly everything seemed a lot more complicated.

_____

"Who?" Miss Parker suddenly gave Broots her attention.

"Her name is Ty. She came in with Jarod, but got caught between the barriers." His voice grew more excited as he spoke. "As it turns out, she's an escapee from the Centre. I'm trying to figure out what her program was, but the files can only be accessed by the Triumvirate."

Her eyes narrowed. "I want those files, Broots. I don't care how you do it, but I want them. Now."

Broots sighed heavily. "Somehow I knew you were going to say that."

Watching him leave the room, Miss Parker shook her head. "Things never go the way they're supposed to around here," she muttered. "They always seem capable of getting weirder."

_____

Her breathing quickened as she was marched down the dark hallway. She had been blindfolded and was being held on either side by strong arms. _This can't be happening, _she thought. She had known what she was getting herself into the moment she had stepped onto Centre grounds, but now suddenly she wasn't so sure of herself. Last time she had heard, someone had taken her place in her program, so she had no idea what they would do with her now. It was impossible to even begin to understand the Triumvirate's way of thinking, so she quietly let herself be carried off to… well, she had no idea.

_____

The old warehouse was dark except for a faint light in one corner of the basement. Jarod sat at a table typing away at his laptop, trying furiously to make sense of things.

"What are you doing?" Kyle mumbled as he limped over, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

Jarod didn't look up. "I'm trying to figure out what they plan to do with Ty, but all I can find is the fact that they have her again," he replied, his frustration clearly evident.

Kyle looked over his shoulder at the computer screen and frowned. "Well keep trying. Maybe _they're_ not even sure yet."

Jarod shook his head as he continued to type. "I doubt it."

Kyle grabbed a nearby chair and sat down. Sighing, he stared at the floor. "I hope we can get her out of there before they do anything serious," he muttered.

Jarod glanced at his brother. "You really like her, don't you?"

Kyle shrugged and didn't lift his eyes from the floor. "She's my best friend – my _only_ friend, really. We've been through a lot together and I owe it to her to get her out of there."

Jarod sighed. "We'll get her back, Kyle. Don't worry."

He just looked at him and shook his head.

_____

Walking down the hallway, Broots was as jumpy as ever. He had already almost dropped the papers from his shaky hands twice, and he cursed himself for feeling so nervous. Accessing the Triumvirate's private files wasn't exactly what he called a walk in the park, but he wouldn't share his thoughts with Miss Parker because he knew she would never understand or care.

When he spotted her leaving her office, he hurried over and shoved the papers into her hands. "I can't believe I just did that. Do you know what they'll do to me if they find out I was accessing files like these?" he blurted out.

"Broots, do I look like I care? Now what the hell is all this?" she demanded, not bothering to look at what the papers were about.

"Well, uh, where to start? Ty used to be a real big moneymaker while she was here – only second to Jarod, in fact. She was part of a program called the Mercenary Project. There were three of them originally, and they all did jobs for whoever would pay. Usually stuff like assassinations, kidnappings – anything that dealt with destruction. Their number fell to one, Ty, after one was transferred and another was killed. She was prized by the Triumvirate because of her dependability and accuracy, but she began to fight authority. She escaped _seven_ years ago, can you believe that?" 

Miss Parker frowned. "What happened to the project when she left?"

"The entire thing was put on hold while they looked for her. But about three and a half years ago, a new mercenary filled her spot. All information about what the project's been doing since then isn't in the file database anywhere. I couldn't even find out who the new mercenary is." Broots took a deep breath and waited for Miss Parker to respond.

She glanced down at the papers in her hands and thought for a moment. "Did you find out what they plan to do with her now?"

He shook his head. "Wasn't in there anywhere."

"Alright, well, keep your eyes open. If anything else comes up, I want to be informed," she told him.

"Well, you might wanna talk to Mr. Lyle then, because it seems that he's overseeing everything that happens to her so far," he said quietly.

She raised an eyebrow. "Really? Then I guess I'll have to see what Baby Brother has to say."

_____

Ty grunted as she was shoved into a chair. "Is that really necessary?" she demanded.

"You can take off your blindfold now," a taunting voice told her.

She carefully took it off and squinted in the bright light. She was in the center of a white room. To her left was a table that was cluttered with objects, though they were obscured from her sight by a white cloth. Against the wall before her, a screen had been pulled down – one used to project film. The entire room smelled stiflingly like rubbing alcohol, and it made her eyes water.

Ty glanced at everything cautiously, and finally rested her eyes on Mr. Lyle, who was standing to her right. "What?" she asked calmly. "No welcoming party?"

He smiled slightly. "I'm afraid there isn't time for one. Though the Triumvirate was very pleased to hear of your… valiant return," he replied mockingly.

She rolled her eyes and glanced warily at the covered table. Lyle nodded to someone behind her and suddenly her arms were forced against the arms of the chair and strapped into place. Her ankles were next. She did a halfhearted struggle, but knew it was no good. There was no way she was getting out of this one.

Lyle walked over to the table and grinned at her. "The wonderful Dr. Gilmer will get you back into the swing of things. I mean, you've been gone for so _long_."

A man in a white coat stepped into her line of vision, and Lyle pulled off the cover from the table. It was covered with syringes.

Dr. Gilmer approached the table and began examining them. "Let's see if we can't bring the _old_ Ty back."


	5. In Deep

A Life Worth Saving

Chapter Five  
_ In Deep_

By Rainfall

[Author's Note] Hey, sorry it's taken me so long to post… I've been sick, and…well… yeah, I don't really have an excuse *grins sheepishly*. Enjoy, and please review!

"Well, Lyle, I hear you've got your hands full," Miss Parker said to her brother's back.

He winced at her voice and turned around to face her. "What, jealous?"

"Hardly," she replied flatly. "I want to know what you're doing with her."

He laughed shortly. "Sorry, Sis. Can't help you there. I've got specific orders from the Triumvirate."

She raised an eyebrow. "Trying to brag?" she asked. "I know _I_ wouldn't want them breathing down _my_ neck."

Lyle sighed and avoided her gaze. "Shouldn't you be busy looking for Jarod?"

Miss Parker gave him a hard look. "Well, I would have had him last night if _some_body hadn't screwed up."

"Don't try to blame that on me, Parker," he said incredulously.

"They were _your_ men, Lyle. _You_ should have been more prepared," she growled.

"You're impossible," he muttered, and stalked away.

She sighed and watched him go. "So no help from Nine Fingers," she mumbled to herself. Seeing Broots down the hall, she barked, "Hey Broots! Get over here!"

He jumped at the sound of her voice and hurried over. "You don't have to shout, Miss Parker," he told her in a hushed tone.

"Listen, I want you to find out where they're keeping the girl. I want to know why this whole thing's being kept so damn quiet," she demanded.

He shut his eyes and gritted his teeth. "Fine."

_____

The words on the screen began to blur together as Jarod continued to look at it. Rubbing his tired eyes, he closed the laptop and stared around the room, thinking.

Kyle had long since gone back to bed, his wounds keeping him short of energy, while Jarod had been up for the rest of the night. He had been poring over every file he could find pertaining to Ty and the Mercenary Project. There was no updated information, but from what he could gather, he had a feeling Ty was headed back to her old program.

Sighing, he picked up his cell phone and dialed Sydney's number.

"Yes?"

"I spend every waking moment searching for who I am and my family, and when I finally do find Kyle again, it's the Centre that brings us together." He paused for a moment and his face turned sour. "The irony sickens me."

"At least you found him, though," Sydney replied. When Jarod didn't speak further, he continued. "Well, you've managed to come in right under our noses, and leave again. Miss Parker is beside herself."

Jarod smiled a little and glanced over at his sleeping brother. "Yes but, it did not go the way I had planned," he murmured. "Ty gave herself up to get us out, and I find out _after_ the fact that that's the last place she should be."

"You didn't know?" There was surprise in Sydney's voice.

"No, she never said anything," he replied in exasperation. "Sydney, I need to know what they're going to do with her."

He sighed into the phone. "I suppose they're going to simply break her back into her old program. She was highly valued, you know. Just like you – though to a smaller degree."

Jarod was silent a moment before he spoke. "What do you know about her project? Did you ever work with her?"

"Well…" His voice suddenly sounded uneasy. "My primary efforts were with you, but there were some… moments where my opinion was wanted."

"What do you mean?"

"When it comes to pretender ideology, you are perfect, right? Well, Ty is the perfect mercenary when it comes to that. Sometimes she was even a bit over zealous. They actually wanted me to… tone her down because they feared she might realize how powerful she was, and how the Centre's hold on her wasn't really as great as they made it out to be." He sighed. "She was a monster, Jarod. How she ever survived out in the real world without every major federal agency after her is beyond me. You saw what happened to Kyle."

"That's… amazing," he whispered. "I would never have known… I mean, she seemed like a perfectly normal human being – without any relation to the Centre whatsoever!"

"I know. I myself would like to ask her a few questions, but it seems the Triumvirate is dealing with her personally," Sydney said.

"Hmmm, thank you Sydney," Jarod told him, and hung up.

Staring into the darkness, his brows furrowed as he processed the information he had just heard. _A monster?_ he thought. _Friend or no, a project like that cannot be put back into motion. _

_____

Dead bodies. Destroyed buildings. Assassin. Fire. Thief. Murderer. Blood. It all flashed before her on the screen. It had been easy to ignore in the beginning, but now the drugs were in full effect and she was having a hard time focusing.

_Won't let… I want… free. Carnage… wrong._ The fragmented thoughts continued to run through her mind until she thought them so much she wasn't sure if they were her own, or part of Dr. Gilmer's process. She was beginning to forget why she was protesting at all. Everything was slipping away. Flinching and clenching her jaw tightly, she knew she was fighting a losing battle. Their tactics in the brainwashing game never failed. Or was that just another thought to get her to give in? She wasn't sure of anything anymore.

Blood. Death. Kill. Dead bodies. Burning buildings. You. Plane crash. Bomb explosion. Are. Destroy. Blood. Vengeance. Ours.

_____

"I want you to deal with this _personally_, do you understand?"

Mr. Lyle clenched the phone tighter in his hand to keep the unease from showing in his voice. "Absolutely, sir. I'll get right on it." Slamming the phone down in its cradle, he sighed.

"Something wrong, Lyle?"

He whirled around at the sound of his sister's voice and glowered at her. "Would you mind not doing that?" he demanded through clenched teeth.

"Well we're a bit jumpy today, aren't we?" she continued, giving him a satisfied smile. "The Triumvirate getting a little too close for comfort?"

"Parker, you could find yourself in some serious trouble if you keep asking about Ty. It seems that someone has accessed the Triumvirate's private files, and if I find out that it was you…" He trailed off and grinned at her. "Let's just say plenty of people will be pleased."

She raised an eyebrow and came towards him menacingly. "Well good luck, Macho Boy. And happy hunting." With that she whirled on her heel and left his office.

Mr. Lyle watched her go and shook his head. "She's getting in deep," he muttered. "And she knows it."

_____

Broots walked into Miss Parker's office and found her at her desk. "Um, you wanted to see me?" His voice echoed with nervousness.

Looking up at him, she sighed. "We've got trouble – well, you do anyway."

He stopped breathing and waited for her to continue. Trouble in the Centre meant something extremely serious was going on.

"Lyle's investigating a possible leakage from the Triumvirate's private files. It seems you didn't cover your tracks, Broots." She was looking at him accusingly.

He started shaking. "Miss Parker! It's impossible to 'cover my tracks' in this place. And don't look at me like that!" he replied in a hushed, hurried tone. "What are we going to do?"

"_You_ are going to pretend nothing happened and get back to work on finding Jarod – that's what we're here for, right?" As he began to walk slowly towards the door, she added in a softer tone, "I'll watch your back, Broots."

He only nodded slightly and left the room in a daze. Walking down the hall, he clasped his hands tightly together to keep them from noticeably shaking. _Oh God,_ he thought. _I'm gonna die!_


End file.
